Personal ramblings of Elizabeth Andrews Fae artist and author of 'Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles,' 'Faerie Flora'and the 'The Lavender Witch' all available from
www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk and Amazon

Tuesday, 22 July 2014

Folklore of St Johns Wort

This plant blooms during the summer solstice and is at its most powerful on the 24th of June, St Johns Day. On this day it is ceremonially burnt on bonfires in honour of the festival.

It is very powerful against faerie spells and will protect against demons, witches and evil spirits, hence its ancient name of Fuga Daemonum.

'St Johns Wort doth charm all the witches away

If gathered at midnight on the saints holy day

And devils and witches have no power to harm

Those that do gather the plant for a charm

Rub the lintels and the post with that red juicy

flower

No thunder no tempest will then have the power

To hurt or hinder your house; and bind

Round your neck a charm of similar kind'

The plant is imbued with magical powers and can be used for divination, but gathering the flowers can be difficult as the plant sometimes moves away from anybody trying to pick it.It is also dangerous to step on, if you were careless enough to step on a flower during the day faeries would whisk you away on a wild ride across the countryside and then drop you in a ditch miles from anywhere. Stepping on a flower just before bedtime would ensure that you were kept awake all night by mischievous elves, but to ensure a good night's sleep, with no bad dreams, place a sprig of the plant with some thyme under your pillow.

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Hi I am a artist and author Elizabeth Andrews, and I love all things Faerie. My work can be found at www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk where if you wish you can purchase cards and prints of all things magical from Faerie to Mermaids and even Dragons!
This interest has become an obsession over the last ten year resulting in a fully illustrated book detailing Faerie and Folklore around the British Isles. I hope that if you, like me, are a 'Faerie nut' that you will enjoy this blog as I comment on any faerie activity around the British Isles. However I do find myself adding more and more quirky items on folkLore so I apologise but I find them so fascinating and funny!!